Current Conditions

E.coli monitoring on the Columbia River

Riverkeeper’s Swim Guide app uses real time E.coli data collected by Columbia Riverkeeper volunteers to flag Columbia River beaches that are safe or unsafe for swimming, or have no data. While Swim Guide does not consider toxic pollution or other potential environmental concerns, it is a useful tool for people who want to avoid bacterial contamination.

Riverkeeper’s water quality data also may be viewed on the statewide databases of both Oregon DEQ and Washington Dept. of Ecology. Our data is available to the public and we encourage its widespread use. We ask that you let us know if you use our data for research, policy, or educational purposes.

A new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute on a controversial fracked gas-to-methanol refinery proposed in Washington state confirms McKibben’s assertion: the Kalama methanol refinery will not help us achieve a low-carbon future or meet the goals in the Paris Climate Accords. According to the report, approving the Kalama methanol refinery “would not appear to be consistent with globally agreed climate goals of keeping warming at less than 2 degrees Celsius.”

Critical public comment period to convince Governor Inslee, and state and local officials, to stop the Kalama methanol refinery and the Kalama Lateral pipeline. The refinery would use more natural gas than all other industry in Washington combined. If we stop this project, we can protect our climate and river communities from decades of fracked gas pollution.